RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: SAARC CCI Senior Vice President (SVP) Iftikhar Ali Malik on Wednesday while greeting Dr Shamshad Akhtar for assuming charge of Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs in caretaker setup has demanded prompt corrective measures on war footing for help reviving the national economy.

Iftikhar Ali Malik in a statement said sound economy is prerequisite for the survival of the country and strengthening of democratic system of government.

The caretaker government needs to address Pakistan’s fundamental economic and social challenges which were ignored by the political leaders due to their “Game of Thrones”, he said.

“The first and urgent goal must be to end human suffering in Pakistan. One-third of Pakistan’s people live below the UN’s poverty line. Pakistan’s social indicators for health, education, child mortality, the status of women are among the worst in the world. What is most alarming is that poverty has increased, not decreased, over the past few years,” he added.

He suggested to Finance Minister for taking measures to impose spending cuts, zero budgeting, a comprehensive GST (with the aim of raising tax-to-GDP ratio from 8.5 to 15 percent over five years), full autonomy for the State Bank and inflation targeting, implementation of NFC Award, measures to increase tax on agricultural incomes, full review and rationalisation of financial subsidies provided by the federal and provincial governments and reform especially of public-sector enterprises which are incurring annual losses larger than the development budget.

Malik assured Dr Shamshad Akhtar of all-out support of the business community in removing bottlenecks, which are hampering speedy development.

“We hope Dr Akhatar who also holds the Federal Commerce Minister portfolio will make every effort to accomplish economic revitalisation and an escape from deflation, while steadily implementing growth strategies,” he added.

He urged the government to offer special package of power and gas tariffs for rapid industrial growth on the pattern of China.

He also demanded of the government to abolish export development surcharge immediately. The surcharge was levied on exports as per the EDF Act 1998 and 0.25 percent is being deducted by banks from export proceeds, which is deposited in the federal treasury account.

He said that is a matter of concern for the country that despite GSP Plus window, exports of the country are showing declining trend and related workforce is losing their jobs.

The government should adopt pro-export policies and ensure their effective implementation so that country could continue its journey to development and prosperity.